No More Gouts of Flame
by Silvershark
Summary: The Lord of Nightmares is tired of watching Her perfectly crafted world destroyed over and over because Vrabazard can't keep his anger in check. She decides to indirectly change things, hoping for a better outcome, but involving Chaos Dragon Gaav this time since Gaav is Vrabazard's Mazoku counterpart. Though when dealing with the Chaos Dragon, the outcome is never certain. G/E/V
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers, or even the wonderful world that Kanzaka created. Though if I have my way, I someday might have a part of it. We shall see…

AN: This is another plot bunny that just will not go away. So I figured what the heck, even if no one ever reads it. It technically is canon, but becomes non-canon after the Prologue. It also is a sort of offshoot from The Chaos Within, and deals with a character who will later be very important to Lina in her journey. There will be eventual smut, as I think my 30-year-old female brain has aged and become a 17-year-old male. You have been warned.

The world was destroyed in a gout of flame.

Vrabazard.

The world was destroyed in a terrible earthquake, followed by a gout of flame.

Rangort and Vrabazard.

The world was destroyed with mass eruptions of volcanoes, as magma spewed forth from every opening it could find through the oceanic and continental masses.

Vrabazard again, but this time using the innovation of Rangort's art with earth. Strangely enough he didn't realize that he had gotten the idea from his sister. It was actually kind of pretty. The magma sculptures that Vrabazard had made of Her Talisman really managed to capture Evanth's innocence quite nicely.

It was still annoying though. The Mother of All did not like having to reset the timeline just because Vrabazard couldn't contain his emotions over Her Talisman.

The world was destroyed again as earthquakes rocked through the continents, followed by volcanoes erupting, again. Then the world flooded, the water heating up from the lava and the flaming skies, and eventually boiling. After this finished it froze over.

Rangort, Vrabazard and Ragradia. But Dolphin felt the need to add into the Chaos because that was just what she did, and it was fun! Even Valwin stepped in, and with the help of Gaav, had made the skies into a firestorm. Of course Dynast had to have his piece, just because he was bored, and he finished it off with the frozen wasteland. She was honestly surprised Xellas hadn't had the beasts run amok, but by that time every living terrestrial creature was already dead.

The Lord of Nightmares hung Her head.

Damn Temperamental Shinzoku! If She had to watch Her wonderfully created world go up in flames one more time just because Vrabazard couldn't control his followers, or his temper, She was going to Spank Them All!

Mazoku and Shinzoku alike.

She knew what the problem was, though She would never call Her Talisman the problem. Evanth was special in a way that not even Vrabazard understood. Which was why he kept destroying the world for Evanth's sake. And if he kept destroying the world, he kept destroying Evanth, before Mother could even watch as Evanth finally developed into a person with her own mind. Evanth would continue to remain a mousy little creature. And Mother could not have this. She wanted to see Her Talisman grow and become the powerful being she was meant to be. But if Vrabazard kept killing her along with everything else, she never would.

The Lady of Chaos had tried to change things, here and there, to see various outcomes. But perhaps the changes were too miniscule to really make a difference in Evanth's life. Sadly, Mother could not interfere directly. That would end up in the destruction of the world that She loved so dearly, with no chance of a reset. It was part of the reason She had created Evanth in the first place. She needed someone in place who was a being of the planet, but could follow Her will directly.

And that little shit Vrabazard kept messing it up!

He needed to take his followers more firmly in hand and he wasn't. It was why Rangort had helped, accidentally, to destroy the world. Because Rangort had gotten so pissed at Vrabazard for not being the proper God that he was supposed to be, that her power, almost always calm, went out of control.

The Lord of Nightmares could admit, that perhaps having Evanth born to Rangort and her followers might have been a better course of action…

But She had already planned it out, and changing where and to whom Evanth was born, was too direct a change for Her to make. The changes She had to make had to be subtle, like the ripples in a pond, not like a tsunami in the ocean.

It was also that little punk Fenlazzo's fault. She could keep his soul back, and she had before. But that resulted in a worldly destruction far worse, as even Ceified had helped to destroy the world, in a spiritual sense, and Shabranigdo had helped him, because he liked the Chaos that Ceified had inadvertently created. There hadn't been a planet left after that disaster…

No, Fenlazzo had to be born exactly when he was, no matter the pain he caused to Her Talisman. She hoped that maybe, one of these times, he might actually help Evanth to grow a backbone, even indirectly.

Devorit was another quandary, but the Lord of Nightmares did not have reign over him. He was entirely Ragradia's creation, with Mother's Blessing of course, but he was also Ragradia's problem. And on occasion, boy was he a problem. He had massive potential, but he just couldn't seem to get past his obsession with Her Talisman's mother.

Well, that was not the issue here. The issue at hand was keeping Vrabazard and all of his siblings from destroying Her planet because they got a little obsessive and protective and angry over Her Talisman.

Protective.

Yes! That was what Evanth needed. A protector.

Someone who could see who and what she was, and want to keep and protect her from any harm! Someone who would allow her to develop her true potential! Someone who was powerful enough to stop that Idiot from destroying the world on Evanth's behalf, who wasn't as temperamental as Vrabazard was, but was on equal footing so he would actually listen to Reason.

She could use Ceified or Shabranigdo. But She liked them just as they were for now, at a stalemate. She had created them in the first place so She wouldn't need to give up Her Talisman. Boy, had they messed That up! Just because they couldn't work together in their love/hate relationship, Her world continually lost most of its continent to become the Demos Sea instead. She had liked the continent looking like a Dragon. She liked Dragons…

Mother could not use any of Vrabazard's siblings. Not only were they as volatile as he was, but he also would not listen to any of them because they actually were siblings, and Godly Siblings only got along when there was a common enemy. Besides, Valwin, Ragradia and Rangort were all jealous that Vrabazard had been given Mother's Treasure. They'd all try to take her for themselves, especially since she still had no personality to speak of. And as She had seen when one of those brats got their hands on Evanth, Total World Annihilation.

That left Shabi's subordinates.

Phibrizzo… no way in his nine hells. He was just as bad as Shabi, and he would abuse Evanth for his own gain, and then Mother would have to step and destroy Her beautiful world. Plus, he was so full of himself, he actually thought he knew what She wanted. She always looked forward to spanking the Hell Brat whenever She got the chance. He was such a bad child.

Dynast… Evanth would be bored out of her mind. And she would never develop! His siblings didn't nickname him the Ice Prick, or Mr. Icicle Up His Ass for nothing. He was extremely dull, and though he dutifully followed orders from his father, he usually never had an original idea in his head.

There was always Dolphin. But Dolphin was crazy just for the fun of it. And Evanth could very well take on that type of personality.

No. No way.

She needed Evanth to be mentally stable, and Dolphin would not help in that regard at all. Even if Dolphin would probably make sure Evanth had the most fun out of all of her siblings.

Xellas was always an option. And Mother adored Xellos. He was respectful and insulting all at the same time, and almost as fun as Dolphin. But he wasn't crazy, and neither was his mistress. He was powerful, as was Xellas, and they could both protect Evanth and make sure she became a person in her own right. The only problem was that Mother had already promised Xellos to someone else, or more specifically, She had already promised someone else to Xellos, and Mother never broke Her promises, no matter what timeline it was.

And now that She thought about it, Xellas would force Evanth to become her Beta Bitch, even though Evanth was technically greater in power than she was. It was just how Xellas was. You had to prove to Xellas you were stronger, before she would ever submit, and Evanth was too much of a mouse at the moment to make Xellas submit to her.

That left Gaav.

The Lord of Nightmares was kind of iffy on him. On the one hand he really was perfect for Her Talisman. He would protect Evanth with his life, and he would be completely devoted to her. But he was also extremely domineering, and he might dwarf Evanth's weakly developing personality.

In truth, Gaav was a bit of a wild card where Evanth was concerned. She really could see Gaav going either way with Evanth, especially since he was very much Vrabazard's Mazoku equivalent.

Well, it couldn't hurt to try. And She really was tired of seeing Vrabazard destroy Her carefully created world.

Just a few delicate nudges to Gaav's subordinates, and hopefully, She'd get to see the world play out in a new direction, no Gouts of Flame or Earthquakes of Doom.


	2. 1 Gotcha!

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers. Or many of the characters contained in it. I wish to, but not yet.

AN: Once again, like my story Devorit's Descent, this one will deal with some unpleasant themes. Evanth is going to have an incredibly hard life before it ever gets better. Of course I'm also writing this just because I think there need to be more Gaav-gets-laid fanfics out there. If you continue to read, be warned that the subject matter will definitely be Not Safe For Work. I'll try to warn when I get to those particular chapters.

Rashatt looked out over the vast desert, surveying the mountainous terrain, and the temple beyond. This was no ordinary temple though. It was Flarelord's Temple, and it was almost as large as the mountains to the right of it. He supposed that it had to be considering that it housed a huge population of Golden Dragons inside, and they were terrestrial creatures. Still, as he gave it another once over, he felt they could have done better with the architecture. From a militaristic standpoint, it wasn't structurally sound. It was too far from the mountains to use them as an escape route, but too close to keep an enemy from sneaking up on it.

Hell, there weren't even any guard towers stationed at appropriate distances to warn of possible enemies encroaching upon their territory.

Enemies like him.

Oh he supposed that the sanctimonious snots living in Vrabazard's Temple felt safe enough considering that they could take to the skies and survey all about them whenever the need arose, or just when they felt like it. And they were technically the largest predator here in this desert area of the outer world, so not much of anything was a threat to them, aside from a Mazoku or two.

But still, as a military commander, he would have had at least a hundred troops in various locations all around this desert valley to keep watch for enemies. There was nothing like an early warning system to possible threats. Their God Vrabrazard was the most militaristic of the Shinzoku, and, Rashatt thought appraisingly, the most like Lord Gaav in many respects. As such, they really should have been flying patrols constantly to keep up on any possible threats out in the desert and beyond. Hell, even Ragradia's followers flew around their mountains and were aware of any beings that were not supposed to be there, and Ragradia had not really been known to be much of a military strategist, and neither were her followers.

As it was, there was no one that he could detect in this vast desert stretch, and Rashatt was very good at detecting other presences nearby and far off, whether it a was human, Mazoku, dragon, or any of the other weaker races that inhabited the outer world. He had to be considering he was Chaos Dragon Gaav's General.

He took his duties very seriously, and his title even more so.

Right now though, he was looking at the temple with some amusement. He quirked an eyebrow as he looked it over and noticed something he hadn't noticed before in all his traipses here, for he had always been looking at the temple, and the surrounding area, as a General should.

He smirked.

It was extremely phallic looking. Like the Supreme Elder of the Firelord was compensating for something—because honestly, a lot of those penis shaped buildings were quite new compared to the much older, and better planned, architecture.

Oh he supposed, since they were dragons, they would need towers to leap from so that they could fly and not waste time with lift off. And he supposed for terrestrial beings that could be quite _taxing_, day in, and day out.

Pussies.

But even so…

He figured that as large terrestrial creatures, they would want a lot of space to move around in especially if they remained in their dragon forms. That would mean, that those long cylindrical buildings had incredibly small rooms.

So, either they lived one dragon per floor, or they lived in their human forms.

Rashatt only maintained his human form when he was on the terrestrial plane and only because his true form would have made it a bit obvious that he was a Mazoku. But he sometimes wished he could just let loose, and be in his true form all the time. It had to be even more so for those Golden Dragons. Maintaining a human form as a terrestrial creature had to be draining. Before the Kôma War, he had known that Aqualord's followers stayed in their dragon form almost all the time, and only reverted to human form when they actually had to deal with the pesky creatures. He would have assumed it was the same with these particular dragons.

But perhaps not.

He wasn't sure either way as he had never been inside Flarelord's temple. And to be honest, he never really wanted to go inside anyway. While he might be able to take out a large number of them, he was not Xellos, nor was he given Xellos's power. He would eventually die, and that was just a waste of his time and his life. It wasn't so much that he cared whether he lived or died, it was more that if he died, he wanted it to be through taking over the world for his Lord Gaav. And while he would have died if Lord Gaav commanded it, he was not going to die just to take out a thousand Golden Dragons because he wanted to know what they did inside the temple, or what the bloody thing looked like on the inside.

Curiosity killed the cat and all that.

He was not a cat, nor was he that curious. Raltaak was, but Raltaak was Lord Gaav's Priest, and naturally as a Priest of the Mazoku, he was always curious about anything and everything. He loved experimenting, and he would kill to get inside the temple just once.

Either way, Rashatt didn't need to go inside to get what he wanted—or more specifically, what his Lord Gaav wanted.

Rashatt could see his prey even now, as it was about that time. A large grouping of the small bright yellow butterballs had taken flight, and an even larger grouping of the triple-sized mustard yellow snakes had followed after them.

After watching the dragons of this temple for so long, he knew when to come searching for his next target. The little yellow females were only allowed to fly early in the morning and late in the afternoon. It was, so he'd heard, to conserve water since they were living in a desert.

Dragon Shit.

The Supreme Elder wanted absolute control over Vrabazard's female followers, since they were the primary magic users in the temple, and they were kept on extremely tight leashes. The larger males stayed above the females at all times while the females flew or bathed in the sand pits around the edges of the mountain. The Supreme Elder wasn't afraid of someone coming to snatch the females, as he viewed them as worthless despite their ability to use magic—though that did happen on occasion thanks to Lord Gaav and his subordinates—no, he was afraid that those females might attempt to escape from their miserable lives. If one female managed to escape, it would give the others hope, but a female who was captured was an acceptable loss because she would likely die, and there would be no hope for the other females in the temple.

Rashatt had counted once. There were at least three to five males for every female that went out for exercise. A bit excessive, considering just how malnourished and weak those females were, but he wasn't the one who was afraid of losing one smidgen of his power, or power over his followers.

Flarelord's Supreme Elder apparently was. Which possibly explained his Phallic Towers…

The hilarious thing was that the old male didn't seem to care one iota about losing any of his warriors. And considering just how many there were, Rashatt supposed he could slightly, maybe a little, understand. No, the Supreme Elder was only concerned about the weakened females leaving him, and only if they chose to escape.

The lack of concern the Supreme Elder had for his male followers was why Lord Gaav had his subordinates take the chance to capture some of those Golden Dragons whenever the opportunity arose.

Lord Gaav did it for more reasons than one, however.

Rashatt and Raltaak shared a place of power with another of Lord Gaav's subordinates. Valgaav; the Ancient Dragon turned Mazoku who had so completely become a Mazoku that he had even taken Lord Gaav's name as part of his own. Though many terrestrial creatures over the years had given up their 'humanity' in order to become a Mazoku, none had done so with more relish and zeal than Valgaav.

The Ancient Dragons had once been an extremely peace-loving and pacifist race. Because of that, they had not fought back when they had been attacked by the Golden Dragons of Flarelord's Temple. Their entire race had been slaughtered from oldest grandther to dragonets not even hatched from their eggs. Somehow only Val Agares had managed to survive, and he too had been dying.

Lord Gaav, never one to lose such a unique opportunity convinced Val to join him, and they had been a pair ever since. And ever since, Valgaav had been allowing his Mazoku side to dictate his actions to such an extent that even Rashatt and Raltaak were weirded out on occasion, especially whenever Valgaav got his hands on his most hated enemy—the Golden Dragons of this particular temple.

Insanity was not a good combination with a Mazoku. Just look at Deep Sea Dolphin. Although Rashatt pretty much guessed it was an act so that her siblings would leave her alone; it seemed to work too, as even Hellmaster Phibrizzo hated dealing with her. But Valgaav…

Rashatt knew it was not an act. The guy was heading off the deep end, and he seemed perfectly fine with the idea. Hell, even Lord Gaav didn't really take Valgaav in hand, and he was technically Valgaav's Lord and Master. Lord Gaav had an obligation to his subordinates to keep them in line; it was his duty.

Rashatt sneered as he thought about Valgaav.

Whatever.

It was not his duty to keep an eye on the Ancient Dragon turned Mazoku. Rashatt was Lord Gaav's General, and if Lord Gaav suggested that Rashatt, and Raltaak on occasion, get some 'playthings' for Valgaav, he was not going to argue. It always seemed to calm Valgaav down for a bit. And, well, he got have some fun with them too. The male Golden Dragons were always so delightfully angry and continuously tried to fight back until they were properly broken or killed, and their emotions during that entire time were just delicious.

On the rare occasion that Rashatt caught a female instead, well, she was even more scrumptious, especially if she happened to be a priestess.

Female dragons just had emotions that ran through such extremes. And Priestesses had abnormally high emotional ranges, especially in their anger quotients, and they were just a complete delicacy! Not only would Lord Gaav, and the rest of his subordinates, fuck with their minds and their emotions, they got to fuck the females as well.

Rashatt smiled wickedly. Rashatt was very much like Raltaak and Gaav, and they definitely preferred meals of the female persuasion—though taking a male was also a mouth-watering pleasure just because they hated being dominated, and one thing a Mazoku did best was dominate his weaker prey.

So though Rashatt always kept his eyes on any unguarded and unwary males, he was really always on the lookout for a female that wasn't particularly well-guarded by the very males that were there to keep her from escaping. It was extremely rare, but it happened on occasion.

His eyes zeroed in on a particularly juicy piece of prey.

That little golden one right there. Playing among the boulders of a rocky outcropping on a mountain ledge all by herself, and completely distracted by the thing she was digging for. With a male dragon maybe one hundred meters off, and not even paying attention to her.

Easy prey, and a female, the most delectable of the bunch! She was a tiny one true, so she wouldn't last as long as one of the older females or one of the larger males, but she was all by her lonesome. She was going to be so easy to catch.

Like taking candy from a baby.

Rashatt leered. Lord Gaav would be pleased.

He phased through the astral plane, determined not to let this one get away.

xxxx

Evanth stretched one last time before she finally transformed into her true dragon form as the paling went down over the balcony. It was such a relief to do so, and she sighed with bliss. Being continually stuck in her human form for so long was like being forced to wear clothing that was three sizes too small, but not ripping at the seams.

She may have been young, at only two hundred and forty seven, but her dragon form seemed to be growing in size everyday instead of every month like it was supposed to. Perhaps she really shouldn't be eating as much as she was. She was already much bigger than some of the girls that were her age and older.

Still, being larger than the girls of her age group did have some advantages; like the fact that she was actually allowed to fly farther than they were. It wasn't really much of an improvement, but she'd take every advantage she could get. And even though she could fly farther, she was still considered too small to really have the male dragons pay as much attention to her. They knew she couldn't fly much further than the mountains without tiring, so they usually only left one male with her instead of the three that would normally be on a female much older than she was.

This was of absolute benefit to her today. Over a week ago, when she had been playing on one of the mountain ledges, she had seen something black that had caught her eyes. She hadn't been able to sate her curiosity though, as the male guarding her had ordered her to fly back to the temple. And Evanth was no fool.

She knew better than to go to that same mountain ledge the next day. Her guards would notice, and then whatever she had discovered would be taken from her, whether it was valuable or not—it had happened before when she was just a baby and had found some rocks she liked. No, she'd had to wait, even forcing herself to wait an entire week before flying back to that same spot. She just hoped no one else had found those black things and taken them.

Evanth leapt off of the balcony, plummeting downwards towards the ground at a dangerous pace. She loved the thrill of waiting until the last second before she snapped her wings open and swooped out of the fall and into a glide. She remembered the first time she had done so as a small dragon. She had nearly given her mama a heart attack and had been severely scolded by anyone and everyone for doing something so rash and stupid. She had even been beaten by a few of the guards so she would know just how serious a transgression it was that she had made. It hadn't stopped her from doing it a second time.

Or a third. Or even a fourth.

True she had been punished each time, but when they finally realized she was doing it for fun, and not to kill herself, and that she wouldn't stop no matter how many times they beat her or starved her, they finally just let her do it. She was also required to open her wings earlier than she had been, but she'd slowly been testing the waters to see if they noticed how far she'd continually drop before she finally glided out of the dive. It had almost taken her a hundred years, but she was getting further away from where they had originally told her she had to open her wings. Today she was extremely close to where she had been when she first started doing it, and none of the males said a word to her.

She looked around.

Of course they wouldn't. It was bathing day for some of the elder females. And the males loved watching the females while they bathed in the sand pens. Evanth shuddered. She was entirely glad most of the males still considered her to be a child, and therefore they weren't yet interested in her when she had to bathe. Although, she knew it wouldn't be long now.

She was getting bigger in her dragon form, and more dragons than just her mama and the guards had noticed. Already she knew she had some admirers among the much older males. She could always feel their eyes upon her when she flew. Some even commented to her that she was a joy to watch, and that on occasion they wanted to join her up there.

Evanth knew what that meant.

She had seen what happened, more than once, when just one male joined a female while she flew. It had left her shocked and frightened that those big males were thinking of doing the same with her.

If the females, who were much larger than she was, could barely handle the… physical attentions, she knew she would not be able to handle them at all.

Evanth felt so dirty, and shuddered at the thought of those huge males attempting to do the same to her. They terrified her. But none of the male guards were of that particular set today. So at least for now she could loosen up and have a little fun while she flew. It seemed more and more often, that the only time she could ever relax was when she was in her dragon form and flying, but only if those interested males weren't watching her.

She could feel the presence of her male guard tailing her from up above. Based on his shadow he was at least a hundred feet away, and opening. That was good. He'd let her fly, as she wanted, without being in her airspace.

Evanth had had the unfortunate experience many times of having a male guard literally flying into her. When that happened, it usually knocked the wind right out of her, and she'd had to furiously beat her wings just to regain her altitude. And then that male would do it again. Over and over this would happen until she was too tired to do more than land and rest where she hit the ground, usually stumbling from her exhaustion. And the male would remain above her, circling overhead, like a vulture waiting for his prey to die.

She would swear that he did this on purpose to her, but she could never fathom why he did it. She had watched the interactions of the other dragons flying, and none of them ever did anything like this.

Well maybe they did… but when they did, the female usually assumed a certain position and then… those physical attentions that she was so afraid of.

Evanth's eyes widened.

Were her guards trying to—

No! She didn't want to think about it. They couldn't possibly be trying that with her. She was still too young. Way too young. She wouldn't be old enough for that sort of thing for another two hundred and fifty years!

She was still a child!

Evanth craned her neck and looked at the male following her. He was now about two hundred feet off, and still opening. He wasn't even really looking at her.

She breathed a huge sigh off relief. No matter how fast he was, he wouldn't be able to bump into her. He wasn't interested in her in that way. She could fly and dance and he would let her.

He saw her as a child.

Not as a… as a mate, or something far worse. Like one of those words that she was just beginning to hear, though she didn't really understand its meaning. What was it? It sounded like Hoard, but without the 'D'…

And she knew it couldn't be Hoard.

Hoards were precious. One never touched another dragon's hoard, not unless one was invited—and even then, one was very respectful to the items contained therein. No, this 'hoar' word seemed nastier, like it had a bad meaning. And it was usually only mentioned in regards to the females of the temple, females like her mama, and other adults of her caste.

Well, whatever the case was, this male was allowing her her flight space so she could fly and do what she wanted and needed. Which was stretching her wings for a few hours before she had to be trapped in her childlike human form for another entire day.

For about an hour that was all she did too. No reason to change her habits just because she wanted to know what those black things were. If she had made a beeline for that mountain ledge, her guard would know something was up.

So for now, Evanth just swirled and dipped and dove, and just danced through the air, trying to contain her curiosity as much as she could. A lot of the females that flew with her called her a daring little acrobat. Evanth knew that none of them did the sorts of things she did, and she just couldn't imagine why. There was just so much joy to be found in flying. If she could have, all she would do was fly.

Well, eat, sleep and fly. And maybe read books. But really, that was all she ever wanted to do.

Evanth frowned. It seemed like she never got to do any of that.

She took a deep breath. Now was not the time to get depressed over her life. It wasn't really a bad one. And a lot of the females of the temple went through it and survived it. If they could, so could she. She was determined to live her life to the best of her abilities, no matter what she was to become in the temple.

After what felt like forever, Evanth finally felt her energy beginning to drain, and she knew it was time for her to land. Her male guardian was a good ways off and above her. She knew he had kept an eye on her, for he had always maintained the proper distance away from her, and she could always tell where he was based on his shadow. She knew that he wasn't even close to feeling tired. The male guards were large and used to flying for incredible amounts of time, especially compared to the females who were not. Most of the females who had been flying for the same amount of time that she had, had already begun landing in various areas near the mountains and the sand pens. That meant it was time for her to do the same, just to keep up with appearances.

And oh, look at that. A mountain ledge that was just the perfect spot to sun herself and play.

In a great flurry of wind and sand, she landed, doing her absolute best to look worn out. She wasn't actually exhausted. She just knew that it was best to look as tired as the much older females, or her guards might start wondering why she wasn't. She also had to laze and sun herself for much longer as well. She wasn't stupid, no matter how many times the older males told her she was. Being the youngest, and smallest, female allowed to go out this far she also had to be one of the last to get up. If she even made the motions to get up before half of the other females did, she'd suddenly have two or even three males watching her.

As it was, she had done so once, and had she not been paying attention, she wouldn't have noticed the sudden interest the male guards all had in her. She had realized just how dangerous she had made it for herself and quickly flopped onto her back, as if that had been her intent all along. She'd had to stay that way for even longer, feigning sleep, and being the last female to actually get up and move around, as if she was actually that fatigued.

Ever since then, she made sure she remained one of the last to move. It practically killed her to stay still for so long, but she knew better than to get the attention of all those guards again. Especially since some of them were the type that were attempting to get her to fly in a way that pleased them, as in give them the physical attentions she was just too young to give.

Evanth watched out of her peripheral vision, waiting until she saw almost all of the older females getting up and either flying again or sanding themselves down in the pens. Evanth never joined the older females in this activity, even though her scales practically ached with the need to be sanded and buffed. She knew she needed to shed and slough some of her old scales off, but some of the positions a girl had to get into to get to those hard to reach places were just embarrassing.

It was like the females that assumed the position for the males while they were flying, except they weren't flying. And while it was true that all the females helped each other out in these endeavors, she had watched the guards as they in turn watched their… charges—Evanth would swear some of them were drooling by the time the females finished.

And on some occasions, the ones she tried very hard not to remember, some of the guards joined some of those females. And those particular females usually didn't get a chance to finish bathing.

Evanth's scales did not need to be cleaned that badly. In fact, the uglier her scales looked, the better. Perhaps that would keep the interest in her down. She hoped. It had been working for her so far.

Well, not really. Not entirely.

The Supreme Elder had caught sight of her in her dragon form a few years back and expressed his disgust at the state of her scales. And then he had forced her to bathe. And in order to make certain she did so, he made sure a male bathed her so she wouldn't fight back.

Evanth had never felt so humiliated in all her life, or sullied. That male had taken his time cleaning her, and the places he had touched her… Evanth shuddered, wanting to cry all over again at the experience. It had not been pleasant. She had cried for some time afterwards, refusing to come out of her and her mother's lair for over a week, even refusing to eat. Unfortunately, that particular male was now one of the ones who seemed interested in her, and he seemed to like the fact that she was afraid of him.

She looked around again, just to make certain. She knew what he looked like in his dragon form. How could she not when he made her bathe him in return, made her touch him where he touched her? She could recognize him from a distance, but she always had to double check—one could never be too certain when he was involved. She sighed; he was not one of the guards watching another female. Evanth was safe from him for now, at least. Later today, she wasn't so certain. But her play time could be fun for once.

Evanth finally got up and once again stretched. Her guard hadn't really noticed. Good. None of the others had either. Even better. She could now be left to her own devices for a little bit. Like discovering just what those black things were.

She quickly moved to where she had last seen them. Evanth smiled. They were exactly where they were from the last time. No one else had discovered them, or taken them. She was in luck!

Evanth snaked her talons towards the one that was closest to her. She frowned. It was stuck, almost half buried under the desert sand and the boulder. She slowly shoved the boulder out of the way, not only because it was large and incredibly heavy, but also because she didn't want anyone to see what she was doing. She kept peaking over her shoulders and wings to make sure no one was looking her way.

No one was. She took a deep breath and gave one final heave. With the boulder out of the way, she saw a third one, hiding just behind the two that she had seen previously. Evanth carefully began to shift the sand and compacted dirt away, discovering that these three black things were actually bigger than she had first assumed. They weren't large compared to her dragon form. In fact, the largest of the lot wasn't much bigger than one of her largest talons.

She looked around again. None of the guards, not even her own, were paying attention to her. She closed her eyes and concentrated a moment. Yes, there were some females that were shifting into their human forms. It was to be expected when you were helping another get to itchy and flaky scales. If she changed now, they wouldn't notice the shift.

So Evanth did just that. She needed the nimbleness of her human hands to get to those pretty black things that she was almost certain were feathers. The prettiest feathers she had ever seen in her entire life, and that was even though they were dirty and dust covered.

This far from the temple, and away from the magical barrier that was cast on it, her control of her human form was not the greatest. The Supreme Elder wanted the females in human form at all times, and within a certain area a female literally could not be in her dragon form. Well, more specifically, females of the lower castes were not allowed to be in their dragon forms, and the Supreme Elder's spell ensured that. She was never going to master her transformation if she couldn't control how she looked in the temple. It was only through practice, which she never had, that a dragon could master her human form and be indistinguishable from the actual human race.

As the last of the transformation completed, she paused to look at what she could see of herself. She sighed. Her fingernails were too claw-like to be normal. And her skin still had a golden sheen to it, as if her skin were made of tiny golden scales too small to be seen, instead of human skin. She looked behind her really quick, just to check.

Yep. She had a tail sticking out of the bottom of her threadbare and horribly patched dress. It twitched in irritation. She ran her tongue along her incisors; still too long and sharp. She probably looked like a golden feral creature… with a dragon's tail. She knew without looking that she would still have her mousy brown hair.

She sighed again. Well, it was better than some of the other girls her age. They had magic and they still looked like miniature dragons when they tried to transform! At least Evanth could boast, not that she did as she'd be beaten for hubris, that she had better control over her human form than they did. And she didn't have an ounce of magic in her body to help her!

Back to the situation at hand. Those feathers! She wanted them. It didn't matter that they were dirty. They could be hers.

All hers!

Evanth didn't own anything that was all hers or that wasn't previously owned. Everything that she and her mama got was either broken or in bad repair, and had been used by many dragons before it ever got to their hands or home. Of course she knew that these feathers had obviously once belonged to someone else. But whoever it was didn't matter now. They had been buried for a long time now, and no one could have a claim on them.

No one except her!

She'd still have to be careful though and hide them. She didn't want anyone to take them.

They were hers!

Evanth knelt down on the ground and began digging the three feathers the rest of the way out. She sat back when she had them in her hands.

They were so pretty. Even now, despite how dusty the silt covered black feathers were, she could tell that there were actually other colors intermixed in the black. She'd have to clean them when she got back to her room. And probably oil them so that they gleamed. But she knew that her efforts would be worth it.

But before she had more time to contemplate her find, something hit her from behind.

xxxx

Rashatt couldn't believe his luck. All of the male dragons were completely distracted. He couldn't understand why. All the females were doing was bathing, and it wasn't really even that. As far as he could tell, they were just rubbing sand on their bodies. It was the oddest bathing ritual he had ever seen. He had never really gotten this close to them when the large group had stopped by the mountains. He went after stragglers after they were heading back to the temple. Usually the males and females were tired by that time and were easy pickings to a sit and wait predator like he was.

Always choose your battles wisely and attack where there is no defense.

In this extremely rare case, it was a young female who was being ignored by all these dragons that were actually close by. He wanted to wait for the opportune moment, when she was the most distracted.

But she was a paranoid little brat. She kept looking over her shoulder, checking to see if anyone was watching her.

No one was, but that didn't stop her from remaining tense and checking every minute. He wondered what the hell she was up to that would make her so nervous. Rashatt watched as she moved a boulder half her size inch by inch until she had it where she wanted it.

He had to admit he was intrigued by such odd behavior. Was she planning an escape? He was going to help her, even if she didn't want to escape to Lord Gaav. But that wasn't his problem. She'd learn to accept her station soon enough, if she lived long enough.

Rashatt watched as she looked around once again before closing her eyes.

Now what was she doing?

He just could not figure this little female out. She was acting completely contrary to any female he had ever seen. And despite their low capture rates, he had still seen and captured a fair amount of female Golden Dragons.

The little female then did something he was not expecting, and he couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face. She transformed into her human form. The little female had just made it that much easier for him to take her.

Silly little dragon.

Of course she didn't know there was a Mazoku watching her every movement, otherwise she would not have done something so foolish. But alas, she was ignorant of that tiny little fact. As were the rest of her compatriots.

When the golden light dispersed revealing the little dragon in human form, Rashatt actually stopped his astral phase shift. He had not expected to be stunned by the vision before him.

For just a moment, the little female reminded him of Mother. It didn't matter that the girl had a tail poking out beneath her tattered and worn out dress and robes. Or the fact that she was a brunette, when he knew for certain that no Golden Dragon had a human form with brown hair unless they dyed it, and those dragons were typically much older than this little one.

She was very pretty as well, but even that was not it.

He supposed what had struck him the most was the fact that her skin had a golden sheen to it. Like Mother had purposefully manifested in this little female in such a way that he would know, without a doubt, that the Mother of All had staked a claim on her.

The shock only lasted a moment.

Especially as the girl looked at her transformed body and frowned at what she saw. How could she be disappointed? She was lovely, even if she was still childlike. Lord Gaav would be very pleased with her, and of course with Rashatt for bringing him such a treasure. For this little Golden was definitely a treasure if Mother had a claim on her.

It made Rashatt wonder why the dragons surrounding her didn't act like she was. He frowned.

Oh well. Their loss.

Lord Gaav's gain.

The girl fell to her knees and began digging at the spot that had previously been covered by the boulder. Rashatt decided to let her get what she was seeking. Then she was his.

Well, Lord Gaav's.

When she finally sat back and admired what she had unearthed, Rashatt frowned again.

Feathers? Really?

What kind of crazy dragon was this female?

Why would Mother want to claim such a foolish dragon as Hers?

Women!

He supposed it was just in his best interests to let them have their eccentricities. It made them more pliable. Which meant easier to fuck. And he was looking forward to playing with this one, once Lord Gaav gave the okay. Rashatt just really hoped Lord Gaav didn't give the girl to Valgaav. There was no telling what that jerk would do to her.

And the females that ended up in Valgaav's hands usually weren't much fun.

But now it was time. She was properly distracted, her defenses completely down, and no one, besides him, was paying attention to her.

Rashatt phased out of the Astral Plane, and struck her from behind in a grab that encompassed her entire body. All of his astral energy wrapped around her tightly, binding her limbs to her body so that she wouldn't be able to struggle. There would be no escape for her once the attack was complete.

The small dragon screamed in surprise, her arms not going up to protect her body from the attack, but to wrap around and hide the three feathers that she had just found. The fear that he tasted from her was not fear of being kidnapped, but of having something taken away from her. She feared being harmed by one of the males guarding her for something she had, not an unknown entity coming to kidnap her.

What an oddity. No matter.

Her scream had gotten the attention of the male that had been 'guarding' her, and of the other dragons in the area. Rashatt could feel their alarm as they realized that the little one was being kidnapped. But by then, it was too late. Rashatt already had his entire form surrounding hers on the Astral Plane. He also had an amazing grip on her body in the Material Plane, and once he was certain she was completely in his grasp, he phased away to his Lord Gaav, chuckling malevolently all the way.

xxxx

Mother sighed. It wasn't exactly how She wanted Gaav or his children to go about taking Her Talisman, but it would have to do for now. She had set this into motion hundreds of years ago, and She couldn't very well interfere now. That would be too direct.

Although, She had to admit, She liked the fact that at least Rashatt recognized that She had made a claim on Evanth. Perhaps since he was wise enough to see it, so would his father. She could only hope.

But at least now, Vrabazard could not destroy the world with his fire because one of his followers had raped the girl. He'd have to contend with Gaav first, who could fight fire with fire. And that had been Her intent all along.

She wondered just how Gaav would react once he saw Her Treasure before him.


	3. 2 Mother's Power

Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers. Which sucks cause I have a lot of debt, and maybe owning Slayers would help me pay it off faster. I can dream.

It wasn't until Rashatt was halfway to Lord Gaav's castle that he realized something extremely interesting about the little Golden Dragon in his grasp. He could taste her fear, but it wasn't giving him the usual enjoyment he normally received from a dragon or even a human when he did things to them. Oh, he could taste each spark of fear from the female; the fear of the unknown, the fear of rape, torture and even death. These were all fears to be expected from such a frightened young dragon, and normally, he would have gotten a sort of high from it. But not this time. This time was strangely different.

Extraordinarily unusual, in fact.

He was getting an extreme power boost. But it was not because of the girl's fear. It was as if the power he was getting was pure, like Lord Gaav was pouring himself into his subordinate. But this power… It was even purer than that.

From Lord Shabranigdo?

No, that couldn't be right. Lord Gaav had been severely changed by the Aqualord. Not only had he been combined with a human body and soul, but Lord Gaav had also turned his back to the Mazoku, and that meant Lord Shabranigdo. Lord Gaav's subordinates had followed their Lord when this had happened, and they liked the idea of being free and out from under the rule of a Lord who saw them as nothing more than pawns in a game to destroy the world and return it to Mother's Chaos.

Rashatt went still for a moment, almost letting the girl go during his brief epiphany.

Mother!

That was how the power felt. It was chaotic and pure! It was exhilarating and refreshing. It was wonderful and euphoric. It was truly unlike anything that Rashatt had ever felt or enjoyed in his long life. And he had enjoyed many types of energy over the ages.

Rashatt firmly covered every part of the girl that he could, even trying to force his astral form into her spiritual body. He could feel every part of her as her spirit tussled and squirmed against him, but her struggle was in vain. He had the perfect grip on her in both the physical and astral planes as he tightened his hold on her, determined to not let her go. And the more she writhed, the more of her he could feel and touch. It was electrically satisfying. He did not want to let her go.

At all.

Mother had definitely put Her claim on this female, and if it weren't for his Mazoku compulsion, Rashatt would not have brought the girl to Lord Gaav. He wanted to keep her all to himself. But his sense of duty to his Lord won out, and he finally reappeared on the physical plane in Lord Gaav's castle.

Chaos Dragon Gaav sat on his large, impressive throne, listening to one of his underlings give a report on the newest kingdom Gaav was interested in conquering. Upon seeing Rashatt phase into the throne room, the red-haired giant dropped all pretenses of being interested in the information and rose to greet his General, his towering height dwarfing everyone in the great hall.

The little Golden stilled at once as she felt the power that was emanating from the puissant being in the room come towards her, that voracious power practically licking at her soul. She cowered in the arms of the Mazoku that held her. The power that radiated from this new being was nothing like the one who held her.

It was overwhelming and frightening for one.

Evanth had figured out what had captured her after the Mazoku's energy had begun trying to enter her. She had struggled as hard as she could, especially when she felt the Mazoku's grip on her slip, but knew she was now in the presence of some of the most evil creatures in existence. She trembled with terror, and tears leaked from her tightly closed eyes as her worst fears came to her mind. Being a captive of the Mazoku was a far worse prospect than what she had been living with; at least she would have lived in her captivity in the temple—she knew that was not going to be her prospect here. She was a Golden Dragon, and the Mazoku were the mortal enemies of her race. Evanth had heard the stories of the evil race just as much as the other girls in the temple, perhaps even more so because she was a low caste female. The older males in the temple had loved scaring her with all the horror that the Mazoku were capable of, especially in regards to the females of the Golden Dragon race. And Mazoku, along with stories of their evil ways and debauchery, did frighten Evanth.

Gaav looked down on the little brunette that Rashatt held. He could tell from her half completed human form that the girl was a Golden Dragon, even if her hair was a lovely russet. The golden tail twitching underneath the hem of her tattered dress was a dead giveaway. Part of him wanted to dismiss her completely. She was lovely, to be sure. But she was still a child as far as the Golden Dragons counted things, and he hadn't had much interest in children even before that Bitch Ragradia had transformed him. Now that he had a human soul, part of it railed at the idea of raping her. He was quite ready to throw her to Valgaav and let the boy do what he wanted with her, since Valgaav was still part Ancient Dragon and age never meant much to an Ancient Dragon.

But only a small part of him thought it was a good idea. The rest of him, his Mazoku side in particular, banished the idea. And the look in his general's eyes stayed him on that matter. Rashatt was trying to convey her importance with looks alone. So Gaav, knowing when to pay attention to his subordinates, looked more deeply at the little female. He allowed his power to caress her, and he was almost shocked by what he felt from just that small contact.

Gaav's eyes widened as he looked back to his general, who had yet to release the girl, most likely because of that power. Gaav then reached out a hand and stroked the golden skin of her cheek, just to be certain he was not imagining what his power had just told him.

He almost ripped his hand away as the electricity of the touch rippled through him, her innate power nearly overwhelming his for a moment. The girl practically radiated power, power that was Mother's and Mother's alone!

What the hell was a female Golden Dragon of Vrabazard's temple doing with Mother's Chaos?!

Gaav's deep baritone cut through the silence in the throne room. "Release her, Rashatt."

His General did so immediately, even though it was obvious that he really didn't want to. The little female collapsed against the floor, her hands barely bracing her body from full collapse as she stayed in a curled position on the tiles, her hair obscuring her face. The feathers that she had been holding to her body floated to the floor in front of her, one coming to rest on Gaav's left boot.

Gaav looked down at her. She was trembling fiercely, and her tears dripped onto the tiles. She managed to remain silent though, which was amazing since her terror was in full bloom. Gaav could taste the essence of her fear; she was afraid the powerful Mazoku before her was going to rape her, and then kill her.

Legitimate fears to be true. If she had been any other female of Flarelord's temple, Gaav might have considered it; she was too pretty to give to Valgaav, and Gaav was in need of a good fuck despite her being a child. But this girl was no priestess of the Firelord. She wasn't even a spoiled daughter of some highborn male. Her threadbare dress told of her station in her temple. Despite the power that all of his subordinates could feel emanating from her body, she didn't look as if her fellow dragons recognized it and worshipped her like they should have.

Still, it would not do to let her know that most of his underlings were practically getting drunk off of her. He was Gaav, the Chaos Dragon, and she would be his—mind, body and soul. And with her, he would throw off the shackles of Shabranigdo, and take over the world, subjugating anyone and everyone.

"Get up," Gaav spoke once more, his tone directed at the girl.

She winced as if he had physically struck her, but still remained low to the ground. Her body was completely hunched over, protecting her stomach in the only way weak prey could so that the predator before her could not get at her vital organs.

Gaav looked at Rashatt, a frown forming on his face. Rashatt understood what his master wanted and roughly grabbed the girl by her arms to get her on her feet once more.

For the first time since she had screamed when first captured by Rashatt, Evanth cried out. Rashatt let her go as soon as she was standing.

"I said get up. When I give you an order, you will obey me. Understood?"

Evanth barely moved in response, not sure how to respond to the Mazoku before her. Her terror had eclipsed her ability to do anything. She could barely stare at her feet without feeling the need to faint.

"I said, understood?" Gaav spoke again as he grabbed her chin to get her to look beyond his feet, doing his best to ignore the pleasure of the touch, the feel of her smooth supple skin, the ecstasy of her energy.

Evanth's gaze remained downcast as she nodded quickly.

Gaav stared at the girl, as if trying to pierce into her thoughts with his gaze alone. Her fear was nothing like he was used to when dealing with the female Golden Dragons. Most of them usually began cursing him and his subordinates the moment they realized what had happened to them.

So why wasn't she?

Was she so downtrodden that all she could do was tremble at her as of yet undecided future?

The Chaos Dragon had to admit; the female was nothing like any Golden Dragon he had ever met. Golden Dragons, every single one of them, even Ragradia's lot, had a higher than thou attitude; and with this attitude came the expected prejudices against almost every race known to be in existence.

Gaav also knew that among Vrabazard's sect there was a caste system in place to subjugate those that the Supreme Elder determined were not fit to serve him or their god. By the look of the girl's clothing, she was likely in the lowest caste—but even those among the lower castes were still considered higher than those in other races, and this girl should not have been so afraid of him. Golden Dragons were taught to hate and fear Mazoku, but there was no hatred from this girl. Only fear.

It was an odd sensation to feel only fear from a member of such a proud race. But while a change might have been refreshing, the way this girl acted, as if she had already been raped, and was expecting more of it and worse from him, threw him off just a bit. Just what sort of life had she led to leave her in such a state?

"Look at me when I speak to you." With another female, Gaav might have added some snide remark or even something lascivious. But this girl was far too traumatized for that. Simple commands would have to do. At least until she understood her new position here, if she lasted that long.

Evanth began to do what he said. And whimpered as she realized just how tall the Mazoku before her was.

She looked up.

And up.

And up just a bit more.

Her eyes widened considerably as she saw the giant before her. No man in her entire knowledge had ever been that tall. Not normally. He had to be well over ten feet, and then some. And her neck began hurting as she craned it to look up at him. She took a step back, to ease the cramp and to get a little further away from this monster of a man. She decided caution was the better part of valor, and took another step back—right into the arms of the Mazoku who had caught her. She tensed as his hands gripped her shoulders, keeping her where she was. And to her now ever growing fear, the huge Mazoku before her closed the distance between them with one giant step.

She could hear his boot crunch into one of the precious feathers that she had found, and she winced once more. The Mazoku's shovel of a hand reached towards her face and she turned away immediately. He grasped her chin in his sausage-sized fingers, the grip surprisingly gentle for a hand so big, but still forcing her to look up at him once more.

His dark teal eyes met with her golden green ones, and he was once again forced to realize that she was a lovely little creature. And that he didn't like her fearing him. Other females, and even the male Goldens… He loved the feel of their dread. But this girl was so different.

So exceptional.

It was completely obvious that she had been touched, had been chosen by Mother.

Gaav could not believe that the girl was still emanating Mother's power; the rawness of it was enthralling, and he had to fight the human, the terrestrial urges that came upon him at the feel of it. He wanted to touch her all over, even if she was just a child, to see if other parts of her body exuded more of Mother's Chaos. If this much raw energy radiated from her when she was afraid, what would happen if she were in different spirits?

If Mother was so set on claiming the girl, then Gaav wanted to claim her in a different way. And Gaav was determined to find out how her moods affected the Chaos that Mother had given her.

"My General Rashatt has caught you. You now belong to me. You will remain here for the rest of your days."

Evanth somehow found the gumption to speak. She licked her lips, in an attempt to get her saliva back. It didn't work. The Mazoku's large hand was still holding her chin, close enough to crush her throat with just the flexing of his fingers. "And how long will that be?"

Gaav grinned, allowing some of his lascivious nature to show through. "Until I decide otherwise. You are here as my captive, and I will do with you as I wish."

Evanth shuddered at his response, and fought her tears. But she had to know, had she escaped the first level of hell to end up in the ninth? "Will you kill me, once you are done with me?"

"If I desire." Gaav shrugged negligently. He didn't think he would, that he could, considering what she was. Mother might get pissed at him for one. For another, she was too delicious to kill. "Truly, that all depends on you and whether or not you please me." Gaav turned his attention to his subordinate. "Rashatt, have Mazenda clean her up. Her clothing disgusts me. Do not allow anyone to touch her, especially Valgaav. She is mine."

Rashatt bowed to his lord, and dragged the girl behind him. It wasn't difficult for him. The little female was extremely weak, her fear making her weaker, and she didn't give him any resistance.

Gaav watched until the Golden Dragon was out of sight, before he turned and headed back towards his throne, preparing to listen once again to his subordinates. His mind remained on the girl instead of more important matters, like how things were going in Atlas City.

xxxx

Rashatt finally got the girl to the rooms that were meant for bathing and the other disgusting things that terrestrial creatures required. He completely understood why Lord Gaav needed these rooms in his palace, now that Lord Gaav was bound within a human shell and soul. That didn't mean that Rashatt couldn't privately think that terrestrial bodily functions and secretions weren't gross. Luckily, he didn't have to be involved in cleaning the girl up. He could leave that completely with Mazenda, one of Lord Gaav's female followers. The female Mazoku could be gentle on occasion, if it was worth her while.

Besides, Rashatt had other duties that he had to complete now that he had gotten yet another Golden Dragon for Lord Gaav's pleasures.

Mazenda was there before he even let go of the girl. "Another one of Valgaav's new playthings?"

Rashatt shook his head. "Do you honestly think Lord Gaav would want her cleaned up if she was?"

Mazenda wrinkled her lovely brow in consternation. "I suppose not."

"I believe Lord Gaav intends to keep her for himself this time."

The busty redhead stretched out her hand to touch the girl's face, and her eyes lighted with pleasure. "She is delicious. I can understand why."

Rashatt shook his head. "If you value your life, stick to cleaning her. Lord Gaav explicitly stated she was for him."

Mazenda placed her finger in her mouth as she eyed the trembling girl. "Intriguing. He hasn't shown this much interest in a terrestrial creature since Valgaav."

"Exactly."

"Off with you then." Mazenda grabbed a lock of the girl's limp and oily brown hair. "This might take a while."

"I leave her in your hands." Rashatt phased away.

Mazenda chuckled. "You're a pretty little thing aren't you? A little young and underdeveloped for Lord Gaav's tastes, but still pretty, even under all that dirt and grime."

Evanth finally looked up at the female Mazoku speaking to her. Her eyes practically bugged out at the female's attributes. The woman had to be Mazoku. It was the only explanation! Her breasts were so large and obviously top heavy, that as any other creature, like a human, heck even a dragon, she would have been overbalancing all the time. And her back would have been bent beyond recognition. Yet the female stood perfectly straight, with the confidence only held by women of power. And this female Mazoku definitely had power, of that Evanth was completely certain.

Mazenda trailed her finger slowly down the front of Evanth's dress until she reached Evanth's belly. "Knowing my Lord, this outfit certainly won't do, especially if he's planning on fucking you." As she said that, the dressed ripped where Mazenda had touched it, and not able to take the sudden weight, the rest of the dress ripped off of Evanth.

Evanth squealed as her upper body was exposed, leaving her in only her bloomers. Her cloak fell over her shoulders as she hunched forward to cover herself, but all the Mazoku did was tsk.

"That horrible cloak will not do either. It isn't worth the thread it's made from." With another swipe of her fingers, Mazenda ripped through the clasp holding the front together and it too fell to the ground around the girl. "Come, time to get you clean. If I had a nose to sense it, I'd be certain you smelled. And since Lord Gaav does have a sense of smell, we certainly can't have you offending it."

Instead of following the female Mazoku, Evanth collapsed to the ground, one arm covering her chest, the other blindly searching for her ripped clothing.

Mazenda turned around when she realized that the girl was not following her. A frown formed on her face, and with a wave of her hands the clothing on the floor began to burn with bright orange flames. Another wave set the Golden Dragon's bloomers and slippers on fire.

Evanth shrieked, and began crying again.

Mazenda walked up to Evanth, grabbed her by her throat, and pulled her up so that she was on her feet once again. "Do not cross me. I do not have Lord Gaav's compunction when it comes to terrestrial creatures, and especially not when it involves Golden Dragons. And I can make your life a living hell if I feel you require it. So get your naked ass moving to the bathtub, or I'll burn it like I did your clothing."

Through tear blurry eyes Evanth could see that the female Mazoku meant what she said. So Evanth nodded, and Mazenda let her go. Mazenda gestured in front of her, and Evanth began walking toward the tiled room, the female Mazoku close behind.

Evanth came up to a simplistic bathing room. Obviously designed with a man in mind. Which made sense if only this Lord Gaav used it. There were buckets full of water along the walls, and an extremely large rocky bathtub, likely filled from a hot spring considering the slightly sulfurous smell and the large amounts of steam rising from the water.

Mazenda leaned up against one of the walls with the least amount of condensation forming along it and gestured toward the buckets of water. "Get started. I assume you know how to wash your body. You're old enough to know anyway. And you had better scrub every inch of it, or I will scrub it for you, and you won't like how I do it."

Evanth nodded quickly in response. She had never liked how anyone cleaned her, and if she were given some autonomy on how her body would be cleaned, she would take it. She did not want this Mazoku touching her, and would not give the female an excuse to do so.

Curious by nature, even when as frightened as she was, Evanth opened some of the jars on the shelf above some of the buckets of water. They were filled with various types of soaps and unguents, all of the scents musky and masculine. It didn't matter to her really. Something flowery would have been nice, like the scents worn by the priestesses and highborn females of the temple, but considering her own bathing situation in her mother's lair, they were lucky to have water to bathe, much less soap. And when they did get soap, it was always practically pure lye, meant to clean their garments and not their skin. As it was, the chance of ever getting hot water to soak in was nil, and despite her current situation, Evanth was really looking forward to the hot tub, even if it did smell.

Evanth took one of the buckets filled with water and dumped it over her head, fighting the urge to squeal at the frigid temperature compared to the relative warmth of the room. The water that they saved up in her mother's lair was far colder than this, since it was never near any source of heat like the water in this room, and they were in the sub levels of the temple where it was always cold even in the desert.

After wiping the water from her eyes, Evanth grabbed one of the jars, a green one that had soap in it, and began scrubbing at her hair, determined to get the few months accumulation of dirt, oil and dust out of it. She was surprised that the soap didn't burn, but perhaps this Lord Gaav liked his creature comforts more than Golden Dragons did. She took a second bucket and slowly poured the water over her head, attempting to get all of the dirty lather out of her hair. Evanth was about to grab the same jar a second time when Mazenda spoke up.

"That's one of the body soaps. If you truly want to wash your hair properly, the soap you want is in the red jar. And then when you're done, use the unguent in the orange jar. The oils in it will make your hair softer and shinier."

Evanth looked at the Mazoku, and then the jars in question. She had almost forgotten that the woman was in the room with her, so silent had she been until now. She wasn't sure how to respond, as she had never really thought that a Mazoku would care about the state of his hair, so instead she nodded and grabbed the red jar instead. This soap lathered up quickly, though she figured the other one hadn't because her hair had been so dirty. She once again rinsed her hair out with another bucket of water, and grabbed the orange jar. As she opened it, the scent of cloves and oranges came out, and she inhaled the pleasant scent before grabbing a small scoop of it in her hand.

"Rub that between your palms before rubbing it into your scalp. Then rub the rest throughout your hair. A little goes a long way, but with the state of your hair, I'd say you'd need a few more scoops of it for it to properly saturate your hair."

Evanth did as she was told and found that the female Mazoku was right. She scooped out some more, and really ran it through her hair. When she was done, her scalp and hair felt moisturized, but also goopy, and a little greasy.

"Most of it will wash out once you soak, but while you clean the rest of your body, the oils will saturate your hair, and it'll no longer be as dry and brittle as it once was."

Evanth nodded again, that being the safest form of reply she could make. Mazenda then tossed her a sponge and a loofah. She once again grabbed the green jar and scooped out more of the body soap within and began rubbing her body down with the soap. Then she began scrubbing her body with the loofah, making sure to really do a deep cleanse on her skin. She knew how dirty she was, and despite her current situation, it was heaven to scrub the dead layers of skin off of her body. It wouldn't do much for her dragon form, maybe getting some of the worst layers off of her scales—but no, for her dragon form, she'd actually have to scrub her body down with sand and then oil it and buff it to make it shiny once more. But she doubted that the Mazoku that now held her captive would care what her dragon form looked like.

It wasn't like he was a dragon or anything.

The female Mazoku spoke up once more as she watched the Golden practically scrub her skin raw. "That's enough. Use the sponge, or you won't have any skin left."

Evanth looked up from what was possibly the fourth scrubbing of her body, and dropped the loofah.

"Use the unguent in the cream colored jar. That'll probably help your skin the best, as it'll likely provide a layer of protection against the hot water. Otherwise, you're in for some burning sensations…" Mazenda smiled maliciously at Evanth.

It was obvious to Evanth, that the female Mazoku did not care, one way or another, if Evanth inadvertently harmed herself. As long as Evanth physically pleased her Lord, the female was only going to make suggestions. It was up to Evanth to choose to follow them.

Evanth grabbed the cream jar and once again scooped some of new the unguent out, rubbing it all over her body. It had an instant cooling effect, wherever she spread it, and so she made certain to get at every spot that she had scrubbed raw with the loofah.

"Into the tub. You've dallied long enough. And I would rather not get in trouble with my Lord because you lingered."

Evanth was slowly getting used to the Mazoku's brusque manner, and did as she was told. She wouldn't say she was comfortable with the woman, but part of her no longer feared what the Mazoku would do to her. Aside from the threats, and the loss of her clothing, she hadn't actually been hurt—nor had she been touched.

As she stepped into the massive tub, and settled into the deepest part until just her mouth was above the water, she began unintentionally comparing the two times she had been forced to bathe because someone found her too dirty.

The Supreme Elder had had a repulsive male clean her, without anyone there to watch to ensure he didn't do anything to her. Of course, had someone witnessed her humiliation, she was certain she would have felt worse; especially since she was certain they would have watched and not done anything to stop that male from doing what he did to her. True she was physically clean once the bath had been finished, but she had felt so dirty afterwards. And no amount of scrubbing had made her feel clean again after that incident.

This Mazoku had someone to make sure Evanth got clean to his specifications, but so far, had yet to even touch her. Sure, she had lost her clothing, but it had been nothing to cry over. She just really hoped they had something for her to wear after all of this was over. Her eyes widened as a horrible thought passed through her mind.

What if they didn't have clothing for her? What if this Lord Gaav made her walk around naked?!

If that happened, that'd be worse than what she had gone through with that older male dragon. Everyone would be able to see her, and they'd surely stare at her. Her tail still had not gone away after all. It did cover her bottom, but it would do nothing to cover her front.

Oh please, Lord Vrabazard, please don't let that happen!

Evanth could not comprehend how she'd deal with her situation if she were forced to be naked all the time. She looked at the female Mazoku in the room, and then around the room itself. There were no drying cloths anywhere that she could see. And the woman had burned her clothing away. There was nothing to cover her body in this room that she could see.

She plunged her head completely under the hot water and stayed that way for a bit, thinking of the best way to ask for new clothing. She hoped she could convince her captors that she needed them.

Just as she was about to rise out of the tub to take in some air, she felt a hand grab her by her throat, pulling her all the way out of the water. As she began coughing and spluttering, the female Mazoku spoke.

"Don't you even dare think about killing yourself."

Evanth was then tossed to the tile of the bathing room, and she was too shocked to even respond. The busty female snarled at her. "If you want to die so much, we'll give you to Valgaav. He'll at least get some pleasure out of ripping you to shreds. But if Lord Gaav wants you alive, then by Phibrizzo's Nine Hells, I will keep you alive."

Evanth finally gained the courage to speak, "But I wasn't trying to-

Mazenda shook her head. "Don't lie to me. You were under for over two minutes. And I could feel your fear, and then your determination. You're done bathing. Now get up and put some more of that cream on your body. Your skin better be soft and supple for my Lord's pleasure, or I'll make you rue the day you were born, got it Dragon?"

"Can I… Do you… Do you have anything for me to wear?"

The female Mazoku huffed. "This is a castle for Lord Gaav and his subordinates. We don't need clothing. Nor do we need anything else you terrestrial creatures require. And you can walk around naked for all I care. It's not like you're going to need clothing."

Evanth choked back a sob. She was going to be nothing more than a plaything for that giant Mazoku. And he'd tear her to shreds after he was done.

"Now, put that cream on your body, and let's get a move on. I do have other things to do."

Evanth felt something in her seethe underneath her terror. If she was just going to be raped and then killed, what was the point of obeying? If her life was going to be snuffed out like a candle flame once she was used up, she should at least put up some token resistance. Maybe she'd anger that female Mazoku enough, that she'd kill her. It was worth a shot. She didn't think she could mentally handle what that Lord Gaav was going to do to her.

She looked up, a glare in her eyes.

Mazenda chuckled. "So you do have a spine after all. Trust me, little Golden; you don't want to go down that path with me. I'm used to dealing with dragons more belligerent than you'll ever become. Now, do as I said."

Evanth knew she had to try. "No."

Mazenda shook her head. "You really don't want to test me little girl. I can make you suffer like nothing you've ever felt before, all without killing you and depriving Lord Gaav of his pleasure. One more time. Put the cream on."

Evanth hesitated. She didn't want to suffer. She knew she shouldn't tempt the possible pain; but maybe, just maybe the woman was bluffing. She hadn't really done anything so far to harm Evanth. And Evanth's desire to die was greater than her fear of a possible bluff.

"No!" Even Evanth thought she sounded like a petulant child, but she was just so tired of being ordered around.

Mazenda smiled. It was not a nice smile. She assumed a pose of nonchalance, crossing her arms over her ample chest and then snapped her fingers.

In an instant, Evanth was enveloped in red-black flames. And the heat and pain was intense. She couldn't stop her scream as she fell to the floor writhing in absolute agony. Never before had she felt something so excruciating. She felt as if her very nerves were being seared over and over, the pain of it growing with every surge. And time seemed to stand still as each wave of pain grew stronger. She couldn't even breathe anymore.

Eventually, the female Mazoku seemed to grow tired of Evanth's gasping, as the woman stopped Evanth's torture. Evanth choked in large amounts of air, fighting the resulting tremors the torment had inflicted upon her. Finally Evanth looked up at the female Mazoku, her sight bleary from the pain and tears.

Mazenda was smiling down on her. "Had enough?"

Evanth nodded quickly, memories of the agony making her shiver in fear.

The woman chuckled. "And to think, that was only a minute. You certainly are the weakest one I've ever had the pleasure of torturing. Now get up, and rub this into your skin, or I'll make the pain greater."

AN: Yes, I am hearing Buffalo Bill too.

Evanth whimpered, and did as she was told. She knelt on the tiles and scooped out a glob of the cream, finally rubbing the unguent into her skin once more, sobbing as she did so. She was so distressed that she didn't even notice that her body was completely undamaged by the flames.

When Mazenda felt she was finished, she swiped the jar away from Evanth and placed it back on the shelf. "Now get up. I'm not going to waste my time watching over you. That's what the lesser servants are for."

Evanth obeyed the Mazoku, fear that she would be forced to endure another of the female's torments making her compliant. She was led, still naked, to a rather large and lavish room. The bed alone was big enough to hold her while she was in her dragon form. She turned to look at the Mazoku, and wished she hadn't.

The woman was glaring at her. She pointed to the bed. "Better get comfortable. This is where you'll be staying until he tires of you. And do not even think of trying to kill yourself. Or of trying to escape. The lesser servants have standing orders to keep an eye on any new dragons we catch; especially you since Lord Gaav has such a hard-on for you. And if you actually manage to make it out of the castle because you transformed and flew off… Well, Valgaav loves to hunt Golden Dragons on the wing. And he really loves tearing their wings off, mid-flight."

Fresh tears began rolling down Evanth's cheeks as she stared at the bed, unable to look this Mazoku in the eyes. She had not thought her life could get any worse. But it had. At least at the temple, she was still sort of safe from the intentions of the males. At least at the temple, she still had her mother. And that nice older female who saw worth in her. Now she didn't have anything to look forward to.

Just torture followed by death.

Evanth waited until she could no longer feel the female Mazoku's presence, then walked over to a corner of the room, farthest from that horrible bed, and slumped to the floor.

She had no idea what she was going to do. Everything that female Mazoku had said had to be true. She hadn't been bluffing the first time Evanth had tested her. So everything else she said was going to happen. And there was nothing Evanth could do except think about her predicament, and how there was nothing she could do to change it. She could feel the cold of the floor and walls begin to seep into her body, and she began to tremble, curling even further into herself as she sobbed.

xxxx

Gaav had not heard anything regarding the little female, except that she hadn't moved from her spot in the room once Mazenda had left her alone. He wasn't sure what to think, except that she was obviously still afraid. He could feel her fear consistently throughout the castle.

When all of his subordinates had finished with their various reports and Gaav was once again left alone in his large throne room, Gaav finally had time to contemplate all of his new information. Though instead of thinking of his various schemes among the different kingdoms in and outside of the Mazoku barrier, his thoughts were focused solely on the young female that Rashatt had caught. There was something about her that kept his mind attuned to her. True, he didn't know what she was thinking, only that she was possibly even more afraid now than she had been when Rashatt had first brought her in. But that could be because she was left alone, and the mind always came up with the worst possible scenario whenever left to its own devices.

Gaav would check on her later, just to make sure she didn't do anything stupid, like wander into Valgaav's section of his castle. He'd reiterate what she was to become for him and then he'd check on some of the more important kingdoms within his grasp, to make sure that things were running smoothly with them.

There were some things one didn't leave to a subordinate, even one of Rashatt or Raltaak's caliber.

The war between Fliovn and Okinjo for example. He'd had to personally egg on both kingdoms as the advisor behind the throne, and on occasion, as the lover between the sheets. Fliovn's general didn't realize the female informant he was sleeping with on occasion when his army needed an important strategem was a Mazoku, but Gaav could be one sexy vixen when he wanted to be. And Okinjo's king had no idea that the old man who had led his father and was now leading them to 'victory' with all the insider tips about Fliovn's army was the War God and Chaos Dragon Gaav.

Gaav didn't really care which kingdom won. He was gaining power and followers with every death, although eventually he'd allow one to win so that he could take the winner. He hadn't yet decided which one he liked better. Though it'd be interesting if it were Fliovn. King Saq'li was in a poor position because of the war, and his general was gaining recognition with every battle he won. There was a possibility of a coup, and Gaav intended on backing General Cheten if he could convince the man it'd be in his best interests. But that was for much later. He wanted the war to drag on, for it was in his best interests if it did.

Phibrizzo may have been the Hellmaster, but his dominion was not on all those who died. Each of the Mazoku Lords, aside from Hellmaster, had some dominion over those who died; they just had to be clever about how to do it. Gaav was able to gain, as his followers, all those who had died in battle, and here, the term battle was used loosely. Dolphin had control of those who died at sea. Xellas had control of the beasts, both alive and dead, and those unfortunate souls that were killed by her creatures. Even Dynast had his fair share of souls, those who had died due to the extreme cold. Granted, there weren't many, which was why Dynast found other ways to subvert minions to his control. Phibrizzo, of course, got the rest, although Gaav had the feeling that was not all true. But Phibrizzo was also the most powerful, and his claim could steal souls from his siblings' grasp, which he often did to their ire.

No, Gaav could claim the deaths from the various battles that were bleeding both kingdoms dry, but he had to be careful about when and how he did it. He also couldn't let Phibrizzo, who was chief among Shabranigdo's spies, know he was controlling the way the battles were going.

Most of the Mazoku Lords either assumed that the Chaos Dragon had lost a lot of his strength and power after the battle with the Aqualord, which was mostly true, or didn't care what had happened to him. For the most part, they were all dealing with their own losses, which had almost been as great as his, after the Kôma War. But the Hellbrat was trickier than his siblings, and since he was Shabranigdo's most powerful subordinate, Gaav had to constantly be aware of his movements and whether he would catch on to the fact that Gaav was no longer Shabranigdo's War God.

Gaav glared at one of the many tapestries that decorated his throne room, though it had done nothing to deserve it. He hated having to hide his actions, and he really hated the Hellbrat. It was mostly Phibrizzo's fault that he was stuck with this human's body and soul—although Gaav had finally gotten around the mortality issue that was inherent in being in a human body. He had even gotten around being stuck in the same appearance and was now able to fully alter not only his body shape, but also his gender, which was important when he wanted to play behind the affairs of humans and not get caught. Still, if the Hellbrat had not put up that blasted barrier whilst Gaav and Shabranigdo had been fighting Ragradia, Ragradia would not have been able to bind him in a terrestrial body.

And he likely never would have turned his back on his Mao.

In all likelihood, the Hellbrat had done it to see how Gaav would react to being trapped, to see what happened when the three major players could not escape.

Shabranigdo had probably not approved of Phibrizzo's actions either, as he refused to speak to anyone except Dynast. But that was beside the point. Phibrizzo had done what he did because in terms of actual power, Gaav had been second in line, and even more to the point, Gaav had been one of Shabranigdo's favorite subordinates even though Phibrizzo was actually stronger and more devoted to the cause.

Gaav sighed and got up from his throne. The castle that he now occupied had once been one of his many targets. The kingdom had fallen after he convinced the current king to have his subjects search for immortality magic. Gaav had known that the humans were not yet capable of casting such magic, but it entertained him as he watched them kill each other to test if the magic they had cast, worked. It also emptied the once thriving kingdom of humans, until the remaining villagers stormed the castle, killed their king and then escaped the kingdom and the horrible memories associated with it. It had soon become known as a cursed land with all of the deaths that had occurred there, and no one ventured too close to the borders for fear of the vengeful ghosts that haunted it—his subordinates delighted in scaring the reckless humans who were stupid enough to try and search for treasure, and no one, not even the Hellbrat, checked in on the Ghost Kingdom after one hundred years of undiminished hauntings.

As Gaav stepped down off the dais, he noticed the three feathers that the little female had dropped in her fear. He walked to them and picked them up, noticing almost instantly that the feathers belonged to the now extinct Ancient Dragons. Studying them more closely, and seeing the three distinct color patterns hidden in the black, he realized each feather belonged to a different dragon.

How in the hell had she come by these?

Aside from the layer of silt coating them, they were almost in perfect condition. Well except for the one where the barbs had separated because he had stepped on it. He hoped, more for her sake than anything else, that Valgaav didn't see them. He'd torture her if he found out she had them. Valgaav was just a little sensitive on the subject of his people, and she was a Golden Dragon, and from the sect that had massacred his race. A triple whammy if ever there was one.

Well, he'd see how she was doing, since her fear still hadn't gone away, and he'd give them back to her, after discovering how she came by them.

Gaav phased to the hallway that connected to the girl's room and opened the door. Though his sight on the Astral Plane was perfect and he knew where she was, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room, even with light from the hall making the room dim. He could see the small female huddled in the furthest corner of the room, knees against her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, and her tail curled over her feet, the tip tucked behind her. What he could see of her, he could tell she was bare, for even now the light of the hall made the gold of her skin shine.

Why the hell was she sitting in the corner of the room when there was a perfectly good bed that she could be sleeping in?

He stepped into the room, blocking a lot of the light from the hall, and he could see her flinch at the second sudden change in light. He walked all the way to where she sat, looking down at her from his ten-foot plus height. He could see that she was trembling, and he could feel her fear increase. It was to be expected since she hadn't stopped being afraid the entire time she had been here, and he was most definitely the cause of her fright. He hadn't exactly given her much to go on for what he would do with her while she was here.

"Get on the bed," he said into the silence of the room.

In response the girl cowered even further into herself, her fear of him becoming that much greater.

This, of course, annoyed Gaav. He had told her earlier that he expected her to obey him, and instantly at that. He leaned down and grabbed her arm, a bit roughly, his hand covering her entire bicep as he once again spoke, ignoring the rush and tingle of her power as their skin made contact. "I said, get on the bed." At this he hauled her up, and for a moment he could see that she was completely naked, which surprised him, but only a little.

What really astonished Gaav, was the response she gave him. Her fear spiked, the highest he had felt the fear of anyone go, but it was not even that which stunned him.

No, suddenly she screamed, but it wasn't just a scream of fear, like from seeing a monster for the first time. It was a scream of absolute terror, and with it came the power that he had felt from her earlier, except in this case, it wasn't just a pleasant rush of Mother's power.

This was a blast of power unlike anything Gaav had ever felt in his long lifetime. More powerful even than something either Ceified or Shabranigdo could produce. Considering that it was Mother's power, Gaav could understand the strength.

That didn't mean he appreciated it.

Even as the power exploded out from her, untamed and unchecked, and as it passed through him, making him drop her arm and fall to one knee, he could feel it surge outward in a complete ever expanding sphere. The earth began trembling and the castle began shaking as the power continued to expand, tearing through everything.

Gaav could feel it when a number of his lesser demons and even some of his least powerful servants, who were lurking around the castle taking care of his terrestrial needs, died as the power ripped through them.

The scream that came out of the Golden Dragon's mouth changed to a roar as the female, unable to hold onto her human shape any longer, transformed into her true dragon form. And this time Gaav had to look up, even as he stood up to stare at the girl. If it wasn't for his quick thinking, Gaav would have been torn apart—the Golden Dragon before him was still radiating that power of hers, though it was far less than it had been moments ago—and Gaav barely managed to get out of the way.

Even so, it was enough to cause him some damage as she sliced her talons through the space he had been in, her claws ripping his overcoat and tunic, the radiating power tearing into his chest.

Her tail swung at him as she snapped her teeth at him. Gaav dodged back once more in response, glad of the largeness of the room as it allowed him enough room to maneuver.

Normally, dealing with an angry Golden Dragon would have been no problem, especially for Gaav. If the dragon became too much to handle—it had happened once or twice—then Gaav or Valgaav would just kill her. But Gaav didn't want this girl to die. He had plans for her power and he did not just want to lose it because he couldn't handle her.

The problem lay in the fact that she was acting erratically, and not attacking the way a Golden Dragon, even an untrained priestess would act. No, the girl was acting like a wild untamed dragon, a beast without a thought in its small brain, a cornered animal trying to attack the much larger predator by making herself bigger. What made her truly dangerous was the fact that Mother's power was behind her every move, and she was just reacting to her fear.

Had her terror truly eclipsed her ability to think?

She wasn't using Dragon Breath, or even Flame attacks. Hell, she wasn't even trying to teleport away from him. She was just attempting to bite him, claw him, or swat him with her tail. She was also roaring at him and hissing at him intermittently in order to get him to back away from her.

And it was working too.

Gaav was slowly being forced from the room by a child. Admittedly, this child could pack a powerful punch as evidenced by the slowly disappearing golden power still radiating off of her. But it was dissipating, even though her fear was not.

He dodged once more before he finally growled, getting tired of her attacks. If she wanted to play Dragon, two could play at that game. Gaav roared himself before he also transformed. He had to be conscientious of the space of the room, for though it was large enough to accommodate an Ancient Dragon—having originally been refurbished for Valgaav before Gaav just gave the Ancient Dragon an entire wing of the castle—it would not have been large enough for Gaav's true form. He kept his size to that of an Ancient Dragon. It was larger than a typical Golden Dragon, and much larger than the little female hissing at him.

At the sight of Gaav's three heads, the female backed into the corner, attempting to get away from him, the fright in her golden green eyes obvious. But Gaav wasn't going to let her go back to cowering in that corner.

He aimed to finish this. So he moved towards her instead.

When she realized he wasn't going to leave her alone, some of her terror came back, but with it a little bit of rage. And she stopped moving backward. Instead, she crouched for a moment before launching herself at him with a scream. Gaav wasn't prepared for her attack, but it wouldn't have mattered if he were.

The female wasn't so small that he couldn't grab her, and she was nowhere near as large as he was. Gaav swatted her back from him, before pinning her to the floor with his foreclaws. Even on the floor she continued to snap at him, hissing when he came too near to her. Gaav positioned one of his hind legs over her back, his sharp talons digging into her scales as she struggled against his massive strength. He placed one of his foreclaws on her long neck, just below her head, so that he could keep her from snapping up at him.

He wasn't sure where the urge came from, but he followed it anyway as he lowered one of his heads to her exposed jugular. The young female redoubled her efforts as she saw one of Gaav's massive heads coming towards her own with his mouth open. But it did no good, as Gaav used a bit more force to hold her neck down, making it more difficult for her to breathe. Gaav bit down on her neck, and another instinct had him press his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He could feel something running along the rivulets of his sharp incisors as they punched through her thick skin.

He could taste her blood entering his mouth, and at the same time something sweet and almost numbing to his mouth. The female hissed a few more times, but the effect of this sweet liquid being injected into her bloodstream was almost instantaneous. Her struggles began to weaken, and she starting going limp beneath him. Her hissing didn't stop entirely, and her tail still swung out in halfhearted attempts to hit him, but he could see that whatever it was that he was doing to her was working. Already, her fear was dropping to nothing and the power that had been radiating off of her was completely gone.

Gaav continued to press his tongue against the roof of his mouth intermittently as he felt it swell every so often, likely to replenish what he was injecting into the female. The more that he pushed into her, the calmer she became, and after fifteen minutes of this, her struggles and hissing ceased entirely. Her eyes, though open, were glazed over, and her body became completely limp under his claws.

He released her throat and slowly took the pressure off of her body. She didn't try to get up. Even her tail remained where it had flopped. All she did was whimper at him piteously.

He spoke up for the first time since this happened. "Are you done?"

She looked at him before sighing and closing her eyes, finally resigned to her fate.

"Transform back into your human body."

The female looked up at him almost listlessly, but still didn't move.

Gaav's three heads frowned down at her. "I will make you if you don't do it yourself, and it probably won't be pleasant."

The very tip of the Golden Dragon's tail twitched, but aside from blinking and moving her eyes to look at him, it seemed that was all she was capable of doing.

"If that's how it's going to be…" Gaav let the sentence hang in the air for a moment, waiting to see if she'd try anything more. When she didn't, he gave a slight shrug and leaned his left head toward her neck, right where it met her shoulder and back. He knew there was a nerve bundle there, at the nape of the neck, that when pinched or bitten with the right kind pressure, it would force her body to transform from dragon to human or human to dragon. It was not something that was well known to non-dragon species and it only worked on those who could transform, but Gaav knew of it for when he had to subdue Valgaav, and from the many Golden Dragons that his subordinates had captured for his Ancient Dragon servant.

He once again punctured her skin, but he didn't release any more of what had to be his venom into her. Her body began to shudder and she let out a louder whimper, but that was all the response he got from her as she began to shift into her human form. It was a longer process than if she had transformed willingly, and he knew it was more painful for her because her body was changing without her intent. Within a few minutes, instead of a dragon laying there, the girl, still naked, was there instead. She was back to being the young beauty that he had first seen when Rashatt had brought her to him, her skin still golden, her golden tail still protruding at the base of her spine and covering her ass.

Gaav also shifted back into his preferred human form, before bending down to pick up the girl. He cradled her in his arms, ignoring her nakedness, and the power she still radiated through her skin, before he took her to the bed at the opposite end of the room and placed her underneath the covers.

Her incredibly beautiful golden green eyes were still glazed over, but she was watching him with some interest.

Gaav frowned for a minute as he considered the girl, unsure of what he was going to do with her. She obviously couldn't be left alone. And leaving her with a subordinate had been disastrous considering her fear had only mounted until he came to check on her. There was really only one option, and that was to stay with her himself.

Had she been anything else, anyone else, he would not have cared one way or another. But there was Mother's power to consider. He should have realized the damage she could cause with that untamed ability. He didn't even know what it was, but whatever it was, it was too powerful to leave to a subordinate.

Which meant he'd have to stay with her. At least until she stopped being so afraid. He wasn't sure what kind of environment she had lived in if she hadn't even realized what she was, or what he was. But that shit was going to stop here and now. Gaav sighed. He climbed onto the bed next to her and he could feel her fear, even as diminished as it was pulse for a moment. Gaav leaned back against the headboard and knew it was going to be a long night.

"You'd best go to sleep."

It was a good thing Gaav had great hearing, or he wouldn't have heard her extremely quiet and meek voice. "You mean you aren't going to…"

Gaav glanced at her. She was huddled under the blankets as if the covers were a shield. And it clicked for him. She believed that he come to her to rape her. He almost smacked himself in the head.

Duh.

It wasn't like he had let her think anything else. And knowing Mazenda, she probably hadn't helped with that assumption. Leaving the girl naked was pretty careless on her end. But considering Gaav had never cared what happened to all the previous Golden Dragons, it wasn't really Mazenda's fault. Mazenda didn't think about age except as an abstract idea, and Valgaav had informed them all about Ancient Dragon culture and their views towards age and sex—which was, if it worked, than sex was viable and expected no matter the age. It was actually how the Ancient Dragons had managed to remain pacifists for so long. They usually fucked the aggression out of anyone.

It was hard to be angry when you were getting laid all the time.

Gaav shook his head. Perhaps during one moment he had actually considered it. But the reaction she had just given him had cured him of thinking that way again. It would not do to have that power of hers explode and kill anymore of his nearby servants. Hell, the power could have done him more damage if she had actually controlled it and tried to kill him with it. No, despite his desire for her, it would have to ultimately be her decision.

"No. I'm not going to."

She didn't look as if she believed him, and despite the venom affecting her, her body remained tense until she finally succumbed to her exhaustion, and the effects of the venom, and fell asleep.

AN: I apologize for the lack of updates. I moved to another place just a little over a year ago. And then my mom died. I've not really been in the mood to write. But I'm still going to write, since my mom would have wanted me to continue my stories.


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